I'll be at Unpub 2026 in Baltimore. Will you be there?
Come playtest a prototype game from Exeunt Press! Unpub Festival 2026 runs March 12-16, 2026 in Baltimore, MD. Tabletop game design panels, workshops, activities, and more!
I’ll be at Unpub 2026 running playtests of an upcoming game. I might also be on a panel and helping with a workshop! See below for details.
If you are near Baltimore and thinking about attending, here’s what you need to know.
What is Unpub Festival?
Unpub Festival 2026 will be held March 12-15, 2026 at the BWI Airport Marriott just outside of Baltimore, MD. It’s four days of tabletop game playtesting, designer panels, workshops, and other events like Feedback Frenzy. Both game designers and playtesters are welcome.
I went last year for the first time and it was really great. Check out my design panel notes in What I learned from 4 panels at Unpub.
The best part for me, however, was being able to playtest some really interesting and diverse games. I love seeing mechanisms combined and remixed in novel ways. The only downside was my limited time. There were so many more games I wanted to try but wasn’t able to!
And it’s not just board games. There were TTRPGs too — both traditional multiplayer games and solo journaling games.
What’s the plan and when is playtesting?
I’ll be there for all four days and hope to attend as many of the Thursday “Designer Day” panels as possible. Last year’s Friday panels were really good too, so I hope to hit some of those. There is a draft schedule for this year available.
But the big event for me is…
I’m running playtests of a prototype board game on Friday evening 5-7 pm!
The game is a significantly revised version of the “Turtchester” card-based area control game currently available at Beep Beep Danger.1 I have a 4-seat rectangular table reserved, so I’ll be testing it at 3 or 4 players. I’ll post additional details (e.g. table location) when I have them.
There’s also a chance that I’ll be on one of the Thursday panels and helping with one of the Thursday evening workshops. Some of the specifics for those are still up in the air. I’ll announce more details on that after it is confirmed!
Other than that, my plan is to playtest as many weird little prototype games as I can in the very limited time available!
How to attend Unpub
Event Registration
Badge sales are open now and can be purchased via Tabletop.Events. You can get a Full Show ($75) or Supporting ($5) badge. If you just want to attend to playtest games, show up and it’s completely free ($0)!
Demo Blocks
If you are a designer who wants to demo your games, you’ll need to reserve a playtesting block. The cost depends on the type of table and the number of time blocks you reserve. It ranges from $35 for a 2-hour 4-seat table to $600 for an all-weekend 6-seat table.
Feedback Frenzy
If you want to pitch your game to publishers as part of Feedback Frenzy, you’ll need to submit a separate application with a deadline of February 22, 2026.
Hotel
The event is at the BWI Airport Marriott hotel. If you reserve a room there, you won’t have to worry about driving back and forth each day.2
Will you be at Unpub? If so, please leave a comment below. Even if you aren’t close enough to attend, you should check out the work that Unpub does.
- E.P. 💀
P.S. If you love tabletop games, you should check out Tumulus. It’s a print-only, quarterly zine packed with Skeleton Code Machine game design content.
Play some weird and wonderful games at shop.exeunt.press.
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Beep Beep Danger a way to try experimental games from Exeunt press. The password to access it is in the linked announcement.
From my experience, it’s not a particularly walkable area. Even getting to the fast food places that were basically across the street required a car.